Another enthralling day at the County Ground saw a further 17 wickets tumble, to add to the 21 that fell on Tuesday, and there is still everything to play for.
Warwickshire, chasing 184 for victory, looked well beaten when they slid to 61 for eight before an unbroken stand of 70 between Rikki Clarke (42) and Chris Wright (38) lifted them to within sight of the finishing line.
At 131 for eight they need a further 53 runs to banish finally the relegation fears that still grip the bottom half of the top division.
Dougie Brown, Warwickshire’s director of cricket, said: “It’s a difficult wicket but not an impossible one. We gave some wickets away early on but Rikki and Chris showed what is possible if you are prepared to graft and apply yourself. All we have to do is go out and start again. They’ve got to get themselves back in again and be brave.
“All season we’ve been looking up and now we’re looking below us. But we’re not the only team in that position. We have to think it might go to the last game but right now tomorrow is the most important game of the season for us.”
Warwickshire were marginal favourites when they started their second innings. Even when Ian Westwood had clipped Tim Groenewald straight to square-leg, with the score on 10, the feeling was that Jonathan Trott and Ian Bell could not both fail twice.
But Trott was stumped as he stretched forward to Jack Leach, who has taken five wickets for 33, and then, at 32, Bell was surprised by extra bounce from the same bowler and was well caught low down by Marcus Trescothick at second slip.
When Sam Hain was caught at leg-slip, again by Trescothick, stretching high, and Matthew Lamb was bowled playing across a straight one from Leach, Warwickshire were 34 for five and short of hope.
The second day got off to a somnolent start, as if to persuade the ECB liaison officer Phil Whitticase that he had made a wasted journey. “The skippers will be shaking hands at five o’clock on Friday afternoon,” quipped someone, predicting a tame draw.
Despite the fact that Whitticase was wearing an ECB shirt, Somerset County Cricket Club stated that he was not on official business. His verdict will be given in thein the morning.
Somerset, who had resumed on 41 for one, 13 runs ahead, lost Trescothick with the score on 70. He appeared to believe that a delivery from Jeetan Patel would turn wide of his off-stump and was mortified to see the ball go straight on and crash into his wicket.
Then James Hildreth was beaten by one that kept low and came into him from Wright and was palpably lbw for a single.
Somerset were three down at lunch, and 100 runs ahead, and the match looked evenly poised. It was after the break that it appeared to move away from them.
The pitch was relatively blameless when Peter Trego played around a delivery and was lbw to Patel. Chris Rodgers was then bowled by an arm ball from the same bowler and it was 160 for six when Lewis Gregory, sweeping, was lbw, also to Patel. Ryan Davies then hit a full toss from Josh Poysden straight to Patel at deep midwicket. The latter had been a very busy cricketer.
The strongest resistance after that came from Dominic Bess, who scored 25 before he top-edged Poysden to short midwicket. Somerset were all out for 211, with Patel taking five for 86. Warwickshire needed 184. What could possibly go wrong?
